Big Data: A Corporate Addiction
November 23, 2010
Corporations across the globe are facing a 21st century problem–having too much data, but needing more, and faster.
According to a the results of a Kelton Research global study referenced in “UK Companies are addicted to ‘Big Data’”, UK executives are often overwhelmed by the high volumes of data regularly presented to them. Further, these same executives find decision-making more difficult due to too much information, and collaboration with coworkers undesirable due to the threat of receiving any more information.
The oddity is that despite this fact, these same executives state they crave even more data at higher speeds, believing it would facilitate them to do their jobs better. While it may seem apparent that executives understand the value added by the data, mainly leading to decreased risk, the contradictory responses don’t make the survey outcome any easier to interpret. The write up said:
Despite the increasing volume of data, pressure to keep up with customer expectations and focus on technology investments, today’s companies are still struggling to see big data as a driver of real business value.
We appreciate that today’s companies feel that way, but it doesn’t mean this issue will resolve itself any time soon.
What we know for sure is that the demand for data is only increasing and with this demand comes challenges, including the speed of content processing, cost of required infrastructure and the ability to sift through enormous piles of records without initial human intervention. Looks like the future’s most successful companies must find ways to tackle these obstacles with cost-effective technology solutions, enabling executives to get their undeniable data fix.
Sarah Rogers, November 23, 2010
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3 Responses to “Big Data: A Corporate Addiction”
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I am sure that there will be many vendors who will state that they can work easily with large amount of data. Processing power is increasing and vendors are able to process more and more data.
The issue is not so much being able to process large amounts of data. The issue is in doing something that is of value and creates competitive advantage with large amounts of data. Does large amounts of data really create competitive advantage?
Can an organization that has 20M documents in a records management system truly illustrate value between storing 2M documents and 20M documents? Is there not a law of diminishing returns in the more you put into the system the less reward you get out?
Traditional technologies such as business intelligence and data warehousing are both cumbersome and non-scalable from a value perspective. They can offer only limited point solutions to specific problems. Other technologies such as MDM offer deep capabilities in one specific area but cost a fortune and take months/years to implement. Solutions such as CRM are applications increase operational efficiency that contribute to the amount of data but are limited in providing valuable data back to the organization. And the longer you use a CRM solution, the less efficient it becomes.
Vendors have been more focussed on efficiency gains in deploying new solutions and the ability to store more and more data. Surely we have been missing the point?
There is a gaping hole for technology to provide real value back to organizations based upon working intelligently with data. What we are lacking is a comprehensive technology capability in order to deliver on the vision.
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